ON THE ORIGINS AND MEANING OF THE POLITICAL TITLES AJO AND IDI OF THE ALTAI-YENISEIAN KYRGYZ

Abstract

In scientific literature there is no consensus still about the origin ofthe title Kyrgyz-ajo, the ancient Yeniseian Kyrgyz state rulers. In thisarticle, in the light of new information sources, we made an attemptto find a new interpretation of the meaning of the term and its evolutionwhich can be traced in the political tradition of the Yenisei, Altaiand Tian Shan Kyrgyz, who used the terms in the late Middle Ages.The simultaneous usage of the terms inal and idi at the beginning of the XIIIth century shows them as political nomenclature in the titlesof the Altai-Yeniseian Kyrgyz. It also shows the vulnerability of thearguments of those researchers who assume the identity of the termsinal and aje /idi.